


Psychic Self-Defense 101

by Sandoz (Sandoz_Iscariot17)



Category: X-Men (comics)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Parenthood, Teaching, Telepathy, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandoz_Iscariot17/pseuds/Sandoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Telepathy class with a time-traveling mother and daughter. It's awkward. (Written for comicdrabbles challenge 048: parenting.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Psychic Self-Defense 101

**Author's Note:**

> Set between All-New X-Men #15 and Battle of the Atom #1. The X-Men belong to Marvel Comics.

“Take a deep breath, Jean,” Rachel began, “And open your mind.”

The two young women sat cross-legged on the floor, facing each other in the Psychic Self-Defense classroom. Jean closed her eyes, a slight furrow in her brow, and let her consciousness unfurl like the petals of a flower.

Rachel stole the unguarded moment to look at Jean closely. She was surreal. Jean— _Mom_ —was so young, fresh-faced and innocent in a way that Rachel herself had never been when she was sixteen.

Jean’s thoughts slipped out as a psychic whisper. _Why am I here? Why am I putting both of us through this? I—_

//Concentrate!// Rachel snapped. //Every telepath in Westchester just heard that. You need to project your telepathy while simultaneously keeping your thoughts shielded from others.//

//Isn’t that kind of…sneaky?//

//Well…yes. But it’s a skill that could save your life.//

Jean opened her eyes, looking determinedly at a floor tile that was most certainly _not_ her daughter from an alternate future, who was also a decade older than her, because things weren’t impossibly weird _enough_.

Rachel sighed. _Why are we doing this?_

(“I’m sorry, I know how hard this is, but she needs a telepathic teacher, and you’re the best we have,” Kitty had said, her hand squeezing Rachel’s shoulder. She didn’t know whether to strangle Kitty or hug her.)

 _How ugly I must seem to her,_ Rachel thought, all spikes and leather and crimson facial tattoos. She wasn’t at all what a young girl would dream her future daughter to be.

//That’s not true!// Jean’s mental voice rang her mind, clear as a silver bell. She drew back as if ready to apologize, then met Rachel’s gaze. //You’re lovely.//

“Thanks.” A smile crept on Rachel’s lips. “I have my mother’s eyes.”

Jean blushed. “Henry—blue and furry Henry, I mean—said you were like us. Not from this time. ‘Chronologically displaced.’…Is—is that the polite way to say it?”

“Listen,” Rachel said in a gentle tone, her hand hovering over Jean’s but not daring to touch it, “The time…the place that I come from…it’s a world away from here. Sometimes my favorite song gets stuck in my head and I realize that here it hasn’t been _written_ yet.” She swallowed hard. “The future isn’t a trap, Jean. Your life is yours, and only yours.”

Several moments of aural and psychic silence followed. The classroom seemed very big and very small.

//Thanks.// Jean’s thoughts felt lighter, tentative but bright. //Was I…was she…a good mom?//

“The best.” Rachel took a deep breath. //Okay. Psychic Self-Defense 101. Let’s go.//  



End file.
